6:45 p.m UPDATE: City Clerk Tracy Croom said no complaints or voter issues have been reported during today’s runoff election.

“It’s been quiet as a church mouse,” Croom said. “I haven’t heard from either inspector except to update me on the four-hour (voter total) counts.

A final voter turnout total will be available once polls close at 7 p.m.

_____________

As of 3 p.m., approximately 10 percent of the 15,749 registered voters in districts 1 and 6 had cast ballots in today’s municipal runoff election.

Broken down by individual districts, about 8 percent of the 7,677 registered voters in District 1 had cast ballots and 12 percent of the 8,072 registered voters in District 6 had turned out, according to the latest data from City Hall.

Additionally, City Clerk Tracy Croom said no issues or complaints had been reported from either of the two polling places.

Polls close at 7 p.m. in the only two runoff elections to come from the Aug. 27 citywide election.

No City Council candidate gained a majority of votes in districts 1 and 6, meaning the top two vote-getters — incumbent Bobby Howard and challenger Burrell G. Odom in District 1; incumbent Bob Lundell and challenger Edwin “Eddie” Pugh in District 6 — square off today.

In District 1, Howard said he had one voter complain of the crowd gathered in support of his opponent.

The supporters, Howard said, were obstructing the entrance to the Tuscaloosa Department of Transportation’s offices on 28th Avenue and asking potential voters directly who they intended to support.

“It’s bordering on harassment,” said Howard, who has been at the poll since it opened at 7 a.m., “but everything else has been going pretty smooth.”

Odom, who outgained Howard in the Aug. 27 citywide election by more than 50 votes, reported no complaints or issues at the District 1 site.

“We’ve been at the polls since 7 o’clock and everything seems to be looking good for us,” Odom said. “The only (the voters) have asked me is to do what I said I was going to do.”

Across town at the District 6 polling site at Grace Church on Hargrove Road, Lundell said there had been a steady stream of voters, but nothing like the crowds that formed on Aug. 27.

He, too, said no voters had complained of any snags or issues related to casting a ballot.

“It’s a lot quieter today,” Lundell said. “No issues at all.”

Pugh, the top vote-getter in District 6 on Aug. 27 who outgained Lundell by more than 80 votes, could not be reached for comment.

About This Blog

Jason Morton has been writing for newspapers since 2000 and for The Tuscaloosa News since 2004. A 1999 graduate of the University of Alabama, he was reassigned to cover Tuscaloosa City Hall in October 2010. In his six years with The Tuscaloosa News, Morton has covered city government, Tuscaloosa County government, Northport City Hall, the court system, the law enforcement and public safety communities. Morton has one son and is married to a high school teacher with the Tuscaloosa County Board of Education.